Since then I have made many batches of scones and have stopped looking at the recipe.

Some changes?

I only use the baking soda if I add a squeeze of lemon.

I use two eggs if I have them to spare, rather than only one. One time I completely forgot to put the eggs in and they still turned out okay. The biscuit is very forgiving that way.

You can add grated cheese instead of currants. Probably there are a lot of things you could add if you wanted (chopped nuts, dried cranberries, raisins), but preferably not all in one batch.

One thing you don’t want to do is handle the dough too much. It makes the biscuits tougher if you do.

I will repeat the recipe here, but you can substitute and change things without fear of doing too much damage. One change I like is to use a lot of sour cream and less milk, but it depends what’s in the fridge that day.

Scones

All the dry ingredients go into the food processor:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda (if using a squeeze of lemon for flavour)

3 Tbsp. sugar (optional)

Then add about 3/4 cup of butter and pulse the food processor until the butter is cut into the flour mixture evenly.

In a measuring cup, stir an egg with a fork, or use two eggs, but reserve some of the egg white to mix with a drop of milk for a wash on top of the batter before putting it in the oven. Add enough milk to make a cup. At this point I also add, as part of that one cup of liquid, whatever I have on hand – yogurt, sour cream, or a squeeze of lemon or lime – just to get the baking soda working well. You may have to add a drop more liquid if you use sour cream or yogurt.

Pour in the liquid and give it a few pulses, add a handful of currants (or whatever you’ve decided on), and pulse again. You don’t want to mash the dried fruit so this goes in last and is just barely mixed in.

Pat the dough together and flatten it on a buttered cookie sheet. More directions are given in my previous post (use the link given earlier in the post).

Today’s scones baked at 400 degrees for about 26 minutes.

But I still wonder … who absconded with that scone that is missing in the photo?

I love to have a scone with my tea or coffee. They are small enough to be a tidbit, but big enough to fill the gap when it’s a while before dinner. Having scones on hand makes life easier if someone drops in and you don’t know what to serve as a “little something” with your beverage. Keep them in a ziploc in the freezer, and thaw for a few seconds in the microwave, and you’re all set.

I have a book of many scone recipes. I don’t particularly like any of them so I took the best of each and made up my own version.

All the dry ingredients go into the food processor:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3 Tbsp. sugar (which I forgot to put into this batch, but it turned out fine just the same)

Then add about 3/4 cup of butter and pulse the food processor until the butter is cut into the flour mixture evenly.

In a measuring cup, stir an egg with a fork and then add enough milk to make a cup. (At this point I also add, as part of that one cup of liquid, whatever I have on hand – yogurt, sour cream, or a squeeze of lemon or lime – just to get the baking soda working well). You may have to add a drop more liquid if you use sour cream or yogurt.

Pour in the liquid and give it a few pulses, add a handful of currants (or raisins, if you prefer), and pulse again. You don’t want to mash the currants so these go in last and are just barely mixed in.

I dump out the dough onto a lightly floured board and smoosh it together into a rectangular lump. I fold the lump in half, press it down, fold it in half again and press it down, and maybe do it a third time. The main thing is not to knead or handle the dough too much.

Place the square of dough onto a buttered baking sheet and roll it to about 1/2 inch thickness with a rolling pin. Then cut it into about 24 pieces. Notice I use the word “about” a lot. If you want to make the scones come out with a nice glaze on top, this is a good time to brush egg on top. I’m usually too lazy.

The recipes all say 425 degrees for half an hour but I found that this is too hot for too long. “About” 400 for 22 minutes was plenty for this batch, but you have to do what suits your oven’s quirkiness, and watch the time.

Put the finished scones onto a cooling rack and then hurry to get the butter and the blackberry jam you made the other day. Try out your scones and then … try out another … and another. Enjoy.